


Pluto Boy

by okay_sunshine



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Best Friends, First Love, Kdrama, Kdrama vibes bc i love watching them, Pining, Smart Kang Taehyun, Weekly update, beomgyu doesn't know why he feels this way, the whole txt gang is here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27058633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okay_sunshine/pseuds/okay_sunshine
Summary: Beomgyu is a simple guy with simple needs. He likes hanging out with his friends, eating delicious food, and reading his favorite comics.He might also love teasing a certain Kang Taehyun, but it's alright they're best friends.So why can't it all stay like that?
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Kang Taehyun
Comments: 2
Kudos: 48





	1. Conclusions in Pencil

**Author's Note:**

> It has been a while since I have written something. I've had TXT on my mind because their comeback is around the corner! 
> 
> So enjoy this thing that I wrote because I have been watching too many kdramas and want some a cute multi chaptered high school fic. 
> 
> Some things to know:  
> International ages in the fic  
> Yeonjun- 18  
> Soobin- 18  
> Beomgyu- 17  
> Taehyun- 16  
> Huening Kai- 16  
> *kai and yeonjun are also siblings, but that's for the next couple chapters.

There was nothing nicer than a Tuesday afternoon. Beomgyu would eat in the lunch hall with Yeonjun-hyung, Soobin-hyung, and Kai. Then he’d head off to the library to bother Taehyun who volunteered there (goody-two-shoes). 

“Yah, Beomgyu-hyung. Stop taking out random books off the shelves or I'll smack you.” Taehyun would yell at him. 

The next best thing would be Wednesdays with Taehyun actually joining them for lunch or Friday intramurals- but right now, this was the life. 

The library windows were open and a cool breeze ran through them. The day was sunny enough, so they wouldn't open the fluorescent lights just yet, but the bookcases created little nooks of shadows as Beomgyu hauled the cart, munching on a granola bar, while Taehyun shelved the books. 

Beomgyu lived a simple life. He found most (most) of his classes boring, but he enjoyed the things he did focus on- basketball games, the lunch menu, and Taehyun checking the name of a book before shelving it. Taehyun had refused to let Beomgyu shelve the books until he finished his snack, he couldn’t have his sticky fingers all over the covers. 

“Taehyunie? Let's go play air hockey after school,” said Beomgyu, after he finished his snack. 

“I can’t,” said Taehyun, tiptoeing as he was about to shelve a book on the highest shelf when Beomgyu scurried from his spot, grabbed the book out of Taheyun’s hand, and held it just out of reach. “Aw, is Taehyunie scared? I’ll go easy on you this time. Promise.”

Instead of trying to grab the book back, Taehyun unloaded the other books from the cart and started shelving those. 

“How nice of you,” Taehyun deadpanned, “But I’ll still have to pass.”

Beomgyu shelved the book and put his arms around Taehyun’s shoulders, pulling him closer as Taehyun rolled his eyes at him. “Is perfect Taehyunie not ready to lose again? Come on, it’ll be fun! I’ll buy us cheese tteokbokki on the way back.” He tried to give Taehyun an eager smile, chin tilted down to make his eyes look bigger. 

Taehyun scoffed as he went back to shelving books. Beomgyu thought of other ways to convince him to play. Soobin and Yeonjun had cram school today, and Kai had soccer practice. Maybe he should promise to help him with his air hockey skills. He’d show him to keep his arm close to the table and- 

“I have cram school at 5:00 pm today,” Taehyun said without looking up.

"Cram school?" Beomgyu tilted his head in confusion. “But it’s Tuesday.” 

“I’m taking another class. I’m not doing that well in chemistry,” Taehyun kept his focus on the books. 

Beomgyu leaned against the shelf. “You’re in the top five in chemistry.”

“I’m in fifth place. I can do better.”

Beomgyu’s voice softened, “You’re already doing so well.”

Taehyun put his stack of books down on the cart and turned to Beomgyu. “But if I’m struggling now, then I might struggle next year, and then I’ll get a bad score on the national exam.”

"Do you even like chemistry?"

“I do, but even if I didn’t. I want to keep my options for the other sciences open, you know? What if I don’t like Astronomy as much next year?”

Beomgyu sighed, letting go of Taehyun. He hauled the cart to the next row as Taehyun finished shelving the books. Gone were the days where they were ‘just kids.’ Now they were kids in adult clothing waiting to fill out their slacks and their button-ups. Taehyun got even less time than that, he was smart enough to start high school as a second year, but it’s also the only way that him and Beomgyu ended up being in the same class. Beomgyu had wished he'd known if it was the last day that he could bug Taehyun to play games with him - so that he could have done it every day leading up to it.

“What are you doing before tutoring starts?” School ended at 3:00 pm. 

“Studying here,” Taehyun gestured at the space around him.

Beomgyu sighed, “You should send your mom a selfie, just in case she forgets what you look like.”

Taehyun’s shoulders sagged- Beomgyu can’t tell if it was in relief or disappointment. “That might be the most practical thing I’ve heard you say.”  
They both chuckled. 

***  
When Beomgyu entered the library at the end of the day, he saw Taehyun sitting in the Literature section, near the big windows. Most of the students had left, save for the two on cleaning duty. He sat in front of Taehyun, “What are you studying?” 

Taehyun jumped at the sudden intrusion. “Chemistry. Why are you here?” 

“I thought I might as well study too. I have nowhere to be today.” He unzipped his backpack and took out his English notebook. 

Taehyun shrugged, going back to his textbook, “Sure.”

... 

Around 4:30 pm Beomgyu groaned, waking up with a paper stuck to his chin. 

“I’m glad that you got some rest,” Taehyun giggled at Beomgyu’s confused face, “I was just about to wake you up.”

“I get tired after school,” Beomgyu muttered, gathering his supplies. 

Taehyun raised an eyebrow, “Oh yeah? You never seemed tired at your basketball practices.”

Beomgyu started packing his bag. “That’s because we’re not sitting in one place all day. I don’t know how you do it. You'll go to tutoring at 5, right?”

“Yea, it’s closeby, so I’ll head out at ‘45.” 

“Nice,” Beomgyu stood up, backpack on, "I’ll see you then.”

Taehyun didn’t get a chance to ask what he meant before Beomgyu dashed out, so he returned to his reading. 

Taehyun left fifteen minutes later to find Beomgyu waiting for him at the front gate, holding a plastic bag. 

Beomgyu waved as he saw him, “I thought you should have a snack before you go! The hotteok-lady made these fresh.”

He handed Taehyun the pancake and took out one for himself. Taehyun let the heat of the pancake warm his hands before he blew on it to eat. 

“Let me drop you off,” Beomgyu told him, with his arm around Taehyun's shoulder. Taehyun nodded, smiling at the taller boy. They walked for a little while without saying a word. 

Beomgyu was the first to break the silence, after taking another bite of his hotteok, he said, “Hyunie, why were you studying chemistry if you’re gonna study it during the class?” 

“I had to see what I did and didn’t know. So I can ask the right questions and practice well.”

Beongyu frowned, “You’re already fast-tracking through school, and you still have a full year till you graduate. Aren’t you tiring yourself out? Your schedule’s already busy.”

Taehyun counted off each day on his hand, walking slowly, “Well, I have English tutoring Monday, Chemistry tutoring Tuesday, and Literature on Thursday. That’s not too bad."

Beomgyu matched his pace, “And you volunteer on Tuesday and Fridays at lunch, and you have intramurals after school on Fridays. And you tutor math students on Saturdays.”

“Hmm,” Taehyun takes another bite of his hotteok, “I guess it is kind of busy, but universities are competitive.”

“We’re still second years, hyunie. Don't you get tired?” 

Taehyun shrugs, “I guess I want to work hard now so that I can go into my last year with confidence.”

They turned the corner and Taheyun pointed at a narrow building, “It’s right over there.”

“I’ll drop you to the door.” Beomgyu crossed the street with him. “Is it because astronomy is so hard to get into?”

Taehyun gave him a small smile, “Yeah, and I have to learn a lot of math and science for it.”

“Good thing you work so hard at that,” Beomgyu looked up at the sky as it weened from dazzling blue into a yolky orange, “It’s a lot nicer to look at than to study.”

“But it’ll be worth it,” Taehyun opened the door, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Beomgyu watched him enter the cram school. Sometimes, his friendship with Taehyun felt like the story of a lone star and a pluto-like rock in its orbit. Beomgyu watched from afar every year as Taehyun got brighter, while Beomgyu didn’t even know if he could consider himself a planet. 

Once he saw Taehyun disappear up the stairs, he started walking home. 

“I guess I’ll have to find something that’s worth doing too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made it to the end- congrats! If you can, please leave a kudo let me know if you like it in the comments!
> 
> See you next Saturday for the next chapter!


	2. Crossed Out Resolutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beomgyu gave him a playful shove. “What are you studying?”
> 
> “I’m doing some math problems,” said Taehyun, picking up his pen, “What are you gonna study? The art of insomnia?”
> 
> Beomgyu tilted his head. ‘“What? O- haha. You're a full comedian aren’t you?”
> 
> (In which Beomgyu realizes his goal-whatever that is- might be a little harder to achieve than he thought).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some disclaimers:  
> I have quite a limited knowledge of the Korean education system. All I know of the Korean high school system is what I have learned online and in videos. Same goes for basketball. 
> 
> This chapter is way longer than I intended because I accidentally started writing Chapter 3 simultaneously, which is why I took so long to post (but hopefully chapter 3 will be posted earlier)!
> 
> Enjoy reading!

“Where are you going?”

“I’m gonna go study,” said Beomgyu.

All three boys turned to him with a look of confusion.

They had been friends for about four years now. Huening Kai and his older brother Choi Yeonjun moved in next door to Choi Beomgyu's house and got to know him well. Kai was good friends with Kang Taehyun at the end of elementary school, and Yeonjun became good friends with his middle school deskmate Choi Soobin. They all played basketball over at Kai and Yeonjun’s house.

And at no point had Beomgyu ever shown an interest in studying.

  
“Really?” asked Yeonjun.

  
Beomgyu straightened his posture. “Y-yeah. Why not? It’s not like I never study.”

  
“You only study the night before a test, and no earlier,” Soobin commented.

  
“But then Taehyunie would have told us if you guys had a test,” Kai added.

  
Beomgyu doesn't know when he acquired his own Greek chorus, but he hoped there was a return policy.

  
“We don't have a test coming up but- Taehyun just started another cram school and you two are busy in your last year, so I thought maybe I should try studying more too?”

  
Soobin and Yeonjun shared a look, both of them smiling as they shared a tacit conversation.

  
“But you hate studying?” Soobin asked, eyes narrowed at him.

  
“I do, but,” Beomgyu scratched his head. “Taehyun’s been so busy these days. I wanna...I wanna be a good hyung and keep him company.”

  
Yeonjun patted Beomgyu on the back, “That’s really nice of you. Does Taehyun have cram school today?”

  
“Yeah,” Beomgyu noticed the funny smile that Yeonjun was giving, but he didn’t want to know what it was about.

  
“Remember to walk him to class,” said Yeonjun, letting his arm fall from Beomgyu’s shoulder.

  
“I will.” Beomgyu checked his watch. “I’m gonna head over then. Bye.”

  
As they watched Beomgyu run towards the library, Kai turned to his hyungs, “What’s with your faces?”

  
Soobin and Yeonjun looked at each other. “Huh? Nothing. I just think it’s nice that Beomgyu’s taking some responsibility,” said Yeonjun.

  
Kai scoffed, crossing his arms, “He doesn’t do that for me.”

  
Soobin tackled Kai into a hug, “That’s what your other hyung’s here for!” He tried to squish hyuka’s cheeks as the younger pulled away.

Yeonjun chuckled, prying Soobin from Kai, “You guys are gonna put me out of business as the best hyung.”

  
“You put yourself out of business,” countered Soobin.

  
Kai let out a shrieking laugh as watched Yeonjun chase Soobin all the way to the bike racks.

\------

“Hey.”

  
Taehyun looked up from his notes. “Here to study?”

  
“Yeah,” Beomgyu sat down beside him, “I’d rather eat, but library-nim would whack me with me a thesaurus.”

  
“I would whack you myself if you did that,” said Taehyun.

  
Beomgyu gave him a playful shove. “What are you studying?”

  
“I’m doing some math problems,” said Taehyun, picking up his pen, “What are you gonna study? The art of insomnia?”

  
Beomgyu tilted his head. ‘“What? Oh- haha. You're a full comedian aren’t you?”

  
“I say it like I see it.”

  
“No naps today,” Beomgyu got out his math notebook, wincing at all the unfinished practice problems, “I also have math homework to do.”

  
Taheyun looked at him funny, then shrugged and went back to his own work.

  
The library was silent, save for the soft scribbling of pen on paper. After a few moments, Taeehyun heard a rustling beside him.

  
Beomgyu kept looking down at his notebook, then at his textbook, with a face as if it had swore at him. Then he’d flip a couple more pages of his textbook while his pencil still hovered over the paper.

  
“Wanna study together?” Taehyun offered.

  
Beomgyu put his pen down, carding a hand through his hair. “That’s alright, I just started this assignment.”

  
“Which one are you having trouble on?” Taehyun scooted closer.

  
Beomgyu handed over his notebook. “Number 3.”

  
“Number 3? That one was pretty easy.”

  
Both boys lifted their heads to see who had said that. She had long black hair and a small face. She was almost as pale as their school button-up. She tilted her head and smiled down at them.

  
“Hey Hyunjin,” Taehyun greeted.

  
Hyunjin sat down across from them. “I can help you with that question if you want.”

  
“That’s fine. It’s a bit lengthy,” said Taehyun. “What are you gonna work on?”

  
“Physics,” she said.

  
Beomgyu eyed both of them, “Do you guys know each other?”

  
“Hyunjin’s in class 2-3, but I tutor her little brother.”

  
“We study after school sometimes,” she smiled at Beomgyu. “And you are?”

  
“Beomgyu,” he gave a small wave. He looked down at his notes. It’s not a surprise that Taehyun already had a study buddy- someone who actually knew what they were doing.

  
Taehyun nudged him, helping him solve the problem.

  
The hour went by slower than Beomgyu had hoped. Once he finally learned how to solve question 3, he got stuck on question 4. He scratched his head at the formula he had to use. He wondered how he still got the wrong answer using the right formula.

  
Taehyun slid Beomgyu’s notebook towards himself, and as if reading his mind he said, “That’s not the right equation. You have to use this one,” he pointed at a formula that was exactly the same, except there was a negative sign in front of it.

  
“That's confusing,” Beomgyu muttered, laying his head down on the table.

  
“It is,” Taehyun cracked a smile. “I’ll write a note that might help.”

  
Beomgyu read the note in Taheyun’s tiny, neat handwriting about where and when to use these formulas. “I swear we didn’t learn this in class,” he whispered.

  
Taehyun rolled his eyes, “Big words from the guy always looking out the window.”

  
Beomgyu’s mouth opened to make a big ‘o’ shape, “I don’t do that all the time,” he pouted as Taehyun laughed with his head falling back.

  
When they finally settled down, he looked away from his notes to see Hyunjin leaning against her arm, staring at them with a blank face. There was a hint of amusement in her eyes. Beomgyu tried not to scowl at the thought that someone he didn’t know was watching them.

  
They were silent after that. Beomgyu prayed to a higher power that he could finish question five without help. Once he had attempted it, he checked the back of the textbook for the answer.

  
He groaned, trying not to slam the desk.

  
“You’re gonna need another formula for that one,” Hyunjin smiled shyly at him. “That’s a harder question. Can I help you with that?”

  
Beomgyu handed her his notebook. He leaned over the table to hear her explain the solution. While she was talking, the table started vibrating.

  
“Mom’s calling,” Taehyun took his phone and stepped out of the library.

  
“Thank you for helping me out,” Beomgyu said after taking back his notebook.

  
“No problem," she gave him another small smile, “I thought I’d give poor Taehyunie a break.”

  
Beomgyu could feel himself getting redder as he scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, sorry. I’m not that strong at math.”

  
“You really aren’t,” she put her hand over her face as she giggled. Her eyes widened when Beomgyu’s face went blank, “But everyone’s bad at different things! Don’t be sad about it!” She waved her arms in front of him. “It’s really nice that Taehyunie helps you out so much, but he’s always so busy that it takes a lot of time out of his-” She froze. “I didn’t mean that. I think I’m gonna stop talking now. Please ignore me.”

  
Beomgyu still felt those words like whiplash. He put his math notebook away and took out his English one. “Taehyun’s smart, he can make his own choices,” he said, before getting back to his work.

  
“I know, I’m sorry,” Hyunjin said without looking up from her work.

  
The library was back to silence when Taehyun got back.

  
“Not doing math?” he asked as he sat down.

  
“Nah,” Beomgyu tried not to glare at Hyunjin. “My head was hurting from all the equations.”

  
Taehyun nodded and went back to studying.

  
\-----

  
“You don’t have to buy snacks every time we study together,” said Taehyun as took a bite out of his hotteok, on the way to the cram school.

  
Beomgyu gave a tight-lipped smile. The embarrassment with Hyunjin was still fresh on his mind. What would that study session have been like without him there? Hyunjin and Taehyun sitting beside each other, working quietly, probably making some math jokes, and getting back to work. Maybe they’d even-

  
“Thanks for walking me here,” said Taehyun, standing in front of the school.

  
Beomgyu nodded. Taehyun smiled at him, waving goodbye as he reached the cram school door.

  
Beomgyu’s shoulders slumped as he watched Taehyun walk farther up the stairs, further from him. He started walking when his phone buzzed.

  
**Yeonjun:** ****_We’ll be at the arcade if you’re done studying ;)_

  
Right before he could reply, the sky started rumbling. Up until then, he thought it was his mood that was darkening. But the sky turned gray and the clouds were bubbling as they gathered closer. And as if they were a balloon and Beomgyu’s gaze a pin, the clouds burst of all their water. There was no light drizzle, just buckets of water that kept falling and falling.

  
By the time he got under the hanging of a fish cake stand, he was drenched from head to toe. He peaked out to find the nearest bus shelter. The closest one that he had seen last time was down the street, about five minutes away. That was better than nothing, as he felt his clothes stick to his body. If he made a dash for it-

  
“Hyung!”

  
Beomgyu turned to see his dongsaeng scampering down the street towards him under a sea-green umbrella.

  
“I thought you’d left,” Taehyun tried to catch his breath, “Here,” he handed Beomgyu the umbrella, it was the one Taehyun carried in the side pocket of his backpack.

  
Beomgyu gently pushed it back to Taehyun, “That’s okay, you’ll need it when you leave.”

  
“Mom’s gonna pick me up so take it,” he handed it back.

  
“Then let me drop you back to the-”

  
“That’s fine! It’ll take five seconds for me to go back in. Pack your own umbrella next time!” Taehyun muttered. He turned to walk out but then turned back, standing at the edge of the hanging. The water on the flap dripped around him.

  
“Do you want to join me at my math tutoring sessions on Saturday?”

  
Beomgyu furrowed his brows, “Won’t the students mind?”

  
“I only have one student at a time, and they’re all little kids. I usually sit and study after the sessions anyway, so we can work on our homework together.”

  
Beomgyu took a bite out of his hotteok that he hadn’t touched until now. This felt like another chance to embarrass himself, this time in front of elementary school kids. But when Taehyun looked at him with his big eyes and a shy smile, he had to remember that Taehyun wasn’t Hyunjin.

  
“Sure,” he said.

  
“It’s a plan,” Taehyun smiled, running out and covering his head with his hands.

  
Beomgyu waited for Taehyun to run into the building before he replied to Yeonjun.

  
Beomgyu met the guys at the arcade. They set up a pool match- Beomgyu and Yeonjun as solids against striped Soobin and Kai.

  
“How'd studying go?” Yeonjun asked as Soobin took his turn.

  
“Terrible.”

  
“That bad, huh?” Kai asked, but Beomgyu wasn’t sure if it was to him, or to Soobin who nearly got a solid ball into the hole instead.

  
“It really was. I knew I sucked at math,” Beomgyu pushed his bangs out of his face, “but I didn't know I was that bad. I couldn’t answer one question by myself.”

  
Soobin shrugged, holding his pool stick upright. “Math’s hard. That happens.”

  
“I wanted to keep Taehyun company, but all I did was ask him for help.” Beomgyu took his shot. He got two solids in, but he didn’t feel any better. “I don't think I'm being a good hyung at all. Why is it so hard?”

  
“It’s not a bad thing to ask for help,” Yeonjun remarked. “But if you really wanna help, we can give you some pointers.” He pointed between Soobin and himself.

  
“Yea,” Soobin said, putting his pool stick aside. “It’s pretty easy. You just have to ask your dongsaeng about their feelings, try to help them when you can, and make sure they feel loved.”

  
He gave a devilish smile right before grabbing Kai and caging him in his arms. “Hyuka, are you stressed? How can hyung help?”

  
“Let me go hyung!” whined Kai, but oddly enough, he still held onto Soobin’s bicep. “I don’t need help.”

  
Yeonjun and Beomgyu doubled over in laughter at this display.

  
“Omo, you’re so cute hyuka you’re getting all red!” Soobin cooed.

  
“Weirdly enough,” Yeonjun interjected, once he stopped laughing, “He’s right. If you want Taehyun to know that you’re there for him, make him feel good. Think about how you’d feel if you were that busy and tired.”

  
Beomgyu watched as Soobin tried to squish Kai’s cheeks as he ruminated those words.

  
\------

  
Beomgyu loved two things a lot. Basketball and hanging out with his friends. Whether you were watching or playing, Friday intramurals was a break from school. The school let students choose their own basketball teams and face off against a different team each week. There weren’t official tournaments, but the winning team would get coupons for free ice cream. Since this was the only year they would play with Soobin and Yeonjun on their team, they had made a team together.

  
“Why do you guys call yourself Team Puppy,” asked a guy from the opposing team, which consisted of guys from Class 2-3.

  
Beomgyu glared at Kai. “Because he loves puppies and the hyungs couldn’t say no to him.”

  
The guy chuckled. “That’s cute. All we could come up with was Team 2-3.”

  
Both teams had representative colours, and could wear anything of that colour. Since Team Puppies were red, Beomgyu had worn his basketball jersey. As they got ready to start the game, Beomgyu noticed Hyunjin sitting in the stands. She and a group of girls were whispering and looking over at Taehyun and Kai. Beomgyu rolled his eyes.

  
The boys got into position, with Yeojun being up and center as their point guard.

  
After a long week, Beomgyu was pumped. Maybe it was the joy of being outside after seven hours of being inside. Maybe it was the sun shining early during early March when it was warm enough that his own sweat didn’t make him shiver.

  
Or maybe it was that he knew if he passed the ball to his left without looking, Taehyun would catch it. If he was aiming for the net, Soobin would block anyone in his path, that Kai would always dribble the ball twice before passing it backwards to him, or that Yeonjun could make a three-pointer like child's play.

  
And Beomgyu really wanted to beat Class 2-3 today.

  
When the buzzer went off, Team Puppy had won 20-15.

  
“Good game!” Both teams bowed and shook hands.

  
“We kinda knew we might lose,” said a guy from Team 2-3 to Yeonjun, “most people can’t beat members from the actual basketball team.”  
Yeonjun shook his hand, “You guys played well. I’d recommend you guys to try out for the team.”

  
The boys started talking while Beomgyu looked around the court. He saw the girls from Class 2-3, talking to their classmates. Hyunjin spotted him and walked over, her hands fidgeting.

  
“You guys played well,” she said with a small smile.

  
Beomgyu nodded at her, turning away.

  
“I’m sorry I-”

  
“Do you think we were wasting his time by having him play basketball too?”

  
“No, I-”

  
He walked away before she could respond.

  
Beomyu saw Soobin-hyung wheeling the basketball trolley out for the next team to practice before their match started. He jogged over to help Soobin hand out basketballs.

  
Beomgyu was lucky to wear his sleeveless jersey that day. Anything underneath would have stuck to his skin, making him feel sticky and smelly. He grabbed the hem and toweled the sweat off his face. His belly poked out from underneath, but who was watching. After handing out all the balls, he spotted Taehyun on the benches.

  
He was in the middle of what looked like packing his bag, but Taehyun had frozen in his spot and stared in their direction. His big eyes were even wider than usual.

  
Beomgyu ran over to him, “Everything okay?”

  
Taehyun snapped back into focus, opening his mouth then closing it, then choosing to put his water bottle away. “Um, nothing.”

  
“Looked like you zoned out for a minute there. Anything on your mind?”

  
“I was- just-,” Taehyun adjusted the straps of his backpack, not looking at Beomgyu, “...thinking of how cool Soobin-hyung looked today. He jumped as high as the basket to get that last shot.”

  
Beomgyu’s shoulders slumped. “Yea, he’s really good,” he suddenly found his own shoes more interesting than this conversation, looking at them instead. “You ready to go?”

  
“Yeah, I was waiting for Kai.”

  
“I’ll go get him.”

  
He found Kai passing a ball with Yeonjun, “Ready to go?”

  
“Yup,” said Kai, picking up his backpack, “let me put away this- woah, hyung looks like pro when he shoots,” Kai pointed at Soobin showing girls from his class how to shoot into the basket.

  
Beomgyu huffed, “Why is everyone ogling Soobin-hyung today? Give him some privacy. Gosh.”

  
Yeonjun snorted, trying to hide his laugh behind his arm.

  
Kai’s mouth opened, sputtering in shock, “I was _not_ ogli-”

  
“Okay, okay, you weren't,” Beomgyu put his hands up in surrender. “Just put the ball away and let’s go.”

  
Kai did so reluctantly. Beomgyu asked Yeonjun-hyung if he was coming along, but he was going to study with Soobin in the library.

  
Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Kai headed to the bus stop, free ice cream in hand. Taehyun and Kai linked arms as they walked, Beomgyu walking a little ahead.

  
“Why’d your mom drop you off this morning?” Kai asked Taehyun.

  
Beomgyu looked back to hear his answer.

  
“Ah, I slept in,” Taehyun looked up in recollection. “Mom woke me up 20 minutes before I was supposed to be at school, so she just drove me there.”

  
“Aw, lucky! Mom never drives me to school. And dad says I can start getting rides when hyung gets his license,” Kai shook him to make his point.

  
“Who knows when that’ll be,” Beomgyu chuckled. “But why did you sleep in?” The Taehyun he knew was the first to knock out at sleepovers.

  
“I wanted to work on the social studies presentation, but I didn’t check the time. It was already 2 am by the time I got into bed.”

  
Beomgyu raised an eyebrow. “That’s due on Tuesday.”

  
“But I have tutoring Monday and Kai wanted to go to the new ramen place after.”

  
As they reached the stop, Beomgyu crossed his arms. “But you didn’t have time for the arcade on Tuesday with me.”

  
Kai smirked, putting his arm around Taehyun. “It’s called best friend privilege. Look it up.”

  
Taehyun pushed him away. “As if. Kai asked in advance and I squeezed it into my schedule.”

  
Kai’s expression softened, “But we can cancel it if you’re too busy, Taehyun-ah.”

  
“No, I’ve already made time for it. I’m excited now.”

  
He turned to Beomgyu, “We would have asked you too but you have practice.”

  
Beomgyu put his hands up. “That’s fine, I’m not actually upset.”

  
“Speaking of basketball, are you still gonna take a break?”

  
Taehyun bit his top lip. “I’m not-”

  
“A break from what?” Beomgyu asked.

  
“I was thinking of taking a break from intramurals. To make a little more time for everything else.”

  
Beomgyu’s smile fell. He wanted to tell him to keep playing But when he looked at Taehyun, who had bags under his eyes and whose lips were between his teeth- “That’s a good idea,” he said.

  
“Really?” Taehyun and Kai both looked at him in surprise.

  
“Yeah. your schedule is packed. This is just for fun, you don't need it.” Inside, he was screaming. “We’ll find a good replacement.”

  
“Aw, hyung, don’t encourage him,” Kai whined.

  
Beomgyu gave a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Taehyun shouldn’t tire himself out.” he patted Taehyun’s shoulder.

  
“Thanks, hyung,” Taehyun smiled at him. “I haven’t made my decision, but I’m glad you support it. I thought you guys might be mad.”

  
The bus arrived. As they got on, Beomgyu said, “We’re your hyungs. We can’t get mad at you.”

  
Beomgyu stood, holding the rail as Taehyun and Kai sat, chatting about classes. He put all his focus on finishing his ice cream before it melted, taking big bites, but it didn't taste very sweet, it was almost a little sour. 

  
Beomgyu sat beside Kai when Taehyun got off at his stop. He turned in his seat to watch Taehyun walk across the storefronts until he turned a corner.

The bus rode away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! It gets a less sad next chapter. 
> 
> Have you guys seen the teasers for Blue Hour? Tell me what you're excited about this comeback in the comments.


	3. Moments in the Margins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beomgyu remembered what Soobin-hyung had told him. 'Ask your dongsaeng about their feelings', “It feels like something’s weighing you down. Is there anything you want to tell hyung?”
> 
> Taehyun stopped in his tracks. “No! I want hyung to be quiet and let me walk to the bus stop in peace. I’m really tired.”
> 
> ~There are lots of moments when noone is watching, but they matter just the same~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saem=teacher
> 
> Life Update: School is definitely getting busier, and I had said I would update in two weeks, but that is not how life worked out. I am still writing, but I know myself and I would rather edit and publish when I don't have schoolwork on my mind. So, until at least December 15th, I will be putting this fic on hiatus. I do have a taegyu oneshot I might post before then. 
> 
> P.S. I really liked Blue Hour! I love the laid back disco theme.

Early Saturday morning, Beomgyu waited at the cafe for Taehyun to arrive. Ten minutes after they were supposed to meet, he saw a head of soft brown hair bouncing in the distance, and the rest of Taehyun running uphill.

“Sorry I’m so late,” Taehyun bent down, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

“It’s fine,” said Beomgyu. “Good thing we met up before your first student. Late bus?”

“No,” Taehyun said as they entered the cafe together. “I was finishing some exam practice questions last night, so I slept really late.”

“Again? How late?”

“...around 4?”

“That’s not late, that's early morning Taehyun-ah! Don’t tire yourself out like that,” Beomgyu scolded him as they got in line to order.

“Doesn’t matter, I had to finish it before starting the next set today.”

“Aish, Taehyun-ah, it wouldn’t kill you to go slower.”

Beomgyu placed his order first. “One iced latte and a mango shake.” Taehyun tugged on Beomgyu’s arm as Beomgyu paid.

“Beomgyu-hyung-”

“Yes?”

“You can't keep doing that.”

“Why not? It’s my right as a hyung,” he tried to drop down an octave to make himself sound older and credible.

Taehyun huffed, “You’re only a year older than me,” but he smiled as he picked up their drinks.

“That’s a whole year’s experience I have over you. So trust your hyung.”

Taehyun scoffed, settling down at a table.

Soon enough, every hour, an elementary school kid came and sat for tutoring. It was mostly them bringing the questions they had trouble doing themselves and Taehyun explaining the theory for the solution. They didn’t mind Beomgyu sitting beside Taehyun and doing his own work. Every little while, Taehyun would help Beomgyu with a difficult question. He was surprised that one of them was supposed to be related to Hyunjin, but he shook his head at the thought.

As the last kid left for the day, Beomgyu said, “I feel like I’m adding more work for you by being here.”

“You’re not,” Taehyun rolled his shoulders back and stretched his neck. “If you were, then I’d tell you. I’m in the mood to do math here. It helps me brush up on my own skills.”

“Feeling stiff?” Beomgyu got out of his chair.

“Huh? Yea, probably from sitting all-ah!"

Beomgyu started kneading Taehyun’s shoulders. “Beomgyu-yah, why are you-?”

“Just let me help you relax. Coach taught us the best ways to loosen muscle tension.”

It did feel good, Taehyun could feel the stiffness slipping out of his shoulders. But- “People are staring,” he whined.

“Let them. They’ve probably never gotten a massage from their hyung before. Relax, let me take care of you.”

Taehyun closed his eyes and tilted his head back. As soon as his head started drooping to the side, he straightened, “Okay, I’m relaxed now. Let’s get back to studying.”

An hour later, Taehyun could barely keep his head up. He closed his notebook, “You made me too sleepy to work.”

“I think you did that all by yourself,” Beomgyu retorted.

They headed out of the cafe. The bus stop was a bit of a walk from here, but the cafe was worth the great drinks and a quiet atmosphere.

Taehyun dragged his feet as they walked on the sidewalk.

“You sure you’re okay?” asked Beomgyu.

“Yup, just sleepy.” His head dipped down for a second, before Taehyun blinked, rubbing his eyes. 

“Are you sure?”

Beomgyu didn’t get a response.

Beomgyu remembered what Soobin-hyung had told him. _Ask your dongsaeng about their feelings_ , “It feels like something’s weighing you down. Is there anything you want to tell hyung?”

Taehyun stopped in his tracks. “No! I want hyung to be quiet and let me walk to the bus stop in peace. I’m really tired.”

“I can do that,” Beomgyu said, running right in front of Taehyun, grabbing his legs and hitching him on his back.

“Hyung!” Taehyun scrambled to wrap his arms around Beomgyu’s shoulders, “What are you doing?”

“You’re tired. I'll carry you to the bus stop.”

Defeated and tired, and enjoying not having to walk himself, Taehyun held Beomgyu tight, resting his head against the nape of Beomgyu’s neck.

Perhaps they did get funny looks as they walked, but Beomgyu didn’t care and Taehyun was half asleep. He plopped Taehyun down on the bench and sat beside him. He then gently brought Taehyun’s head to his shoulder. “Rest a little before the bus comes.”

“Thanks, hyung.” Taehyun sagged against Beomgyu, not realizing how tired he was.

Ten minutes later, Beomgyu nudged him awake as the bus arrived. He grabbed his hand and sleepy Taehyun yawned as he was hauled towards the bus. Beomgyu tapped his own bus card twice and found two vacant seats. As soon as he sat down, Taehyun was out like a light.

.....

It was Monday morning. Beomgyu and Kai waited at the school gates as students filed in, past the teacher on duty.

“Come on!” The teacher urged the students that were walking up the hill at a leisurely pace. “Only ten minutes left, walk faster!”

“Taehyun’s still not here,” Kai stood as tall as possible to see over the crowd of kids starting to scurry in.

“He hasn’t been getting a lot of sleep,” said Beomgyu.

“I know. But he’s gonna get in trouble! He’s still not here.”

Beomgyu checked his watch. Five minutes till the gates closed.

Kai was fidgeting beside him, “I have to write a quiz this morning.”

“Go,” Beomgyu waved him off. “Don’t be late too. I’ll wait for him.”

“Are you sure hyung? What if he’s late for real this time?”

“I’ll improvise,” he assured.

“Thanks, hyung!” With that, Kai left, looking back one time to see if Taehyun made it. He sighed, heading for class.

“Two minutes!” yelled the teacher. “Once the bell rings, I’m closing the gates!”

Beomgyu searched through the crowd walking up the hill to see if Taehyun was among them. No luck. He ran to the gates and stood in front of the on-duty teacher.

“Jang-nim!” he exclaimed, giving the teacher his brightest smile. “How nice to see you!”

The teacher, straightfaced, said, “You see me every day.”

“I know,” Beomgyu quickly looked to his left, scanning the crowd, before turning back, “I’ve really come to appreciate what you’ve done for us. It’s so nice that you do this every morning and teach us punctuality. I learned to be on time because of you.”

Teacher Jang cracked a smile. “Well, someone has to teach these kids some manners. Look at them,” he nodded the crowd of students scrambling to get in before the gates closed. “Every day, they come in late, begging me to open the gates.”

“How horrible! Your strictness is truly a mercy to us,” Beomgyu put his hand over his heart. He eyed the crowd. He saw Taehyun’s brown hair flopping up and down as he ran up the hill ( _honestly_ , he wondered, _who put a school so high up a hill?_ ). He looked at his teacher in the eye. “I don’t know if anyone’s told you this, but you’ve made a real difference in my life. I really am grateful to you.” He wasn’t completely lying. He ran countless laps around the track field, held his backpack above his head, and cleaned the gym so many times in first year because of his tardiness that he started eating breakfast at the school snack bar before class.

The teacher’s eyes softened, he patted Beomgyu’s shoulder, as the bell rang. “I'm glad to hear that. You’re a good kid, Beomgyu. Now get to class.”

“Wait!” Beomgyu stood in front of his teacher, blocking his path. “I wanted to give you something to show you my thanks.”

Jang-nim flushed, smiling. “Why, thank you.”

Beomgyu shrugged off his backpack, slowly kneeling as he unzipped it. He pretended to scrummage around for a gift. He looked over his shoulder to see Taehyun running at full speed. As Taehyun ran through the gate, Beomgyu sprung up with a granola bar.

“Eat good food and stay healthy this year. Bye sir!” Beomgyu ran in behind Taehyun.

“Ah, what I’d give to be young again,” said Jang-nim, holding the granola bar in his hand as he watched Beomgyu sling his arm around Taehyun. “The things they do for a friend.”

He saw another couple of backpacks scurry past him before he realized the time. He gestured to the two students on duty. “Close the gates!”

.....

  
“Thanks for saving my butt,” said Taehyun.

“Don’t mind it. What are hyungs for?”

“Again, you’re barely a year older.”

“I’m old enough to come to class on time.” He got a punch in the arm for that.

“How’d you get him to keep the gates open?” Taehyun asked.

Beomgyu smirked, running his hands through his dark locks. “Nothing a little charm and a granola bar can’t do.”

“Oh yeah? Did your charm and granola bar help you finish the assignment on Chinese characters too?”

“The wot?”

He may or may not always do assignments well, but he usually remembers them. So when he realized that the assignment was due today, Beomgyu nearly slammed his head against the door, stopping only because Taehyun held him back. That’s what had Beomgyu rushing to the library table at lunch. He liked learning Mandarin well enough, but he wasn’t the best at writing characters, so this was gonna take a while.

He was nearly done with question one when a notebook flopped down next to him, “Don’t waste your entire lunch on this,” said Taehyun. “You didn’t even get to go to the snack bar today because of me. You haven’t eaten all day.”

Beomgyu smiled up at him as if his heart wasn’t beating a hundred beats per minute. He handed the notebook back to Taehyun. “Thanks. But I chose to do that, and I don’t want to get into the habit of cheating. And I’m not that hungry. I just wanna finish before class starts.”

Taehyun placed it back on the desk. “If a question takes longer than five minutes, then use it. Don’t hand it in half done.” Taehyun went back to shelving books.  
Beomgyu was doing good on time. He seldom used Taehyun’s notebook, peeking at it only for the really hard questions. It still nearly took him the entire lunch to finish.  
Ten minutes before lunch ended, as he was finishing the second last question, there was a piece of chicken in his line of vision.

“Eat,” Taehyun instructed. He held out the marinated chicken with a pair of chopsticks.

Hesitantly, Beomgyu took a bite, “Thanks, but-”

“You have practice after school. Do you want to go completely hungry? Just eat now.” Taehyun brought the chicken closer to his mouth.

Beomgyu took another bite. “I’ll just drink an energy drink.”

“On an empty stomach? You’ll crash halfway through practice. I’m literally feeding you. Finish your assignment and eat.”

As he took bite after bite, all while rushing to write down his final answers, Beomgyu was quite aware of who was literally feeding him. It made his stomach churn, but he didn’t feel sick.

When the bell rang, Beomgyu left for class with a completed assignment, a stomach full of chicken, and a Taehyun by his side.

.....

Class started with Taehyun and another classroom monitor walking around and collecting the assignments. When Beomgyu handed his assignment to Taehyun, he felt a weight lift off his shoulder that had been there since that morning. He leaned back against his chair.

“Choi Beomgyu,” the teacher called, in a rather stern voice.

He shot out of his desk. “Saem?”

She gestured to him to come to her desk. Beomgyu paced slowly towards her, the other students at him.

“You wrote this?” she asked. In her manicured hand she held the assignment he’d worked on all lunch.

“Ye-yes.” Beomgyu kept his head low.

She flipped to a random page in his notebook, “Read me what you wrote here.”

Beomgyu looked at the page, but all he could find were squiggles. They fit in the grid boxes like they were supposed to, but the characters looked like cross-hatches.  
“You were a little too eager to complete the assignment, don’t you think?” she crossed her arms. “Did you think you could hand in gibberish and I wouldn’t know?”

Behind him, some of the students giggled.

The teacher flipped through the pages of his notebook again. “I request the best quality of work from my students,” she said, staring him down. “And I would not accept work that is sloppily done. But I can’t take in something so messy. They look like Chinese characters, but none that actually exist.”

More giggling. Beomgyu nodded, still standing frozen in his spot at the front of the class.

She handed his notebook back to him. “You did seem to complete it. You have till tomorrow morning to hand it to me. Legibly. Bring it to my office desk.”

Beomgyu’s eyes lit up. He bowed to the teacher and promised to do better. He walked straight to his desk, ignoring the funny looks from his classmates. He did turn back to see Taehyun giving him a thumbs up.

For the rest of class, Beomgyu kept his head low.

  
.....

Beomgyu was glad for that fried chicken that Taehyun fed him when Coach Kim told them that they’d be playing 2-on-2 matches. And with his luck, he was paired against Yeonjun-hyung and Soobin-hyung.

“Coach!” his teammate put his hand up, “Isn’t it unfair to put the captain and point-guard on one team?”

Coach Kim scoffed. “If you want to get better, you have to beat the best.”

They did not beat the best. In fact, they got their butts kicked.

“Cheer up,” Yeonjun said when they were back in the locker room. He had just taken his shirt off, revealing his annoyingly toned abdomen, which had Beomgyu rolling his eyes before Yeonjun had finished speaking, “You guys got more points against us than anyone on the team.”

“You play really well when you’re focused. Be proud!” said Soobin, getting out of the shower and giving Beomgyu a slap on the arm.

Beomgyu lurched back from the force, rubbing his arm, “I can do without the physical encouragement.”

They changed into their regular clothes and headed out. Kai and Taehyun were already standing outside.

“What are we going to do today?” asked Kai as he spotted them.

“I don’t know what you guys are going to do, but,” Beomgyu held out his Chinese assignment, “I have to rewrite this before tomorrow.”

“And start the social studies project,” Taehyun added.

“And start the social studies- damn!” he smacked his temple.

“No fair! We were gonna hang out before our cram schools,” Kai stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, crossing his arms.

“Kai’s right,” Yeonjun remarked. “We barely get to hang out as a group. If we’re all this busy, we’ll have to start scheduling hang-outs.”

“Hyung, only adults do that,” Kai pouted.

Soobin slung his arms around Kai, “It’s not a bad idea. We’ll make it fun! Like...watching a movie together. How does that sound?”

All of them agreed, with Kai a little reluctant. “I wanted to hang out today,” he muttered.

“Which movie?” asked Beomgyu. They had moved to a park bench- Kai, Yeonjun, and Taehyun sitting in the middle, and Beomgyu and Soobin sitting on its arms.

“What about Love from Afar?” suggested Kai. Taehyun nodded eagerly.

“The one you showed me the trailer for? That was pretty cheesy,” said Yeonjun.

“Yeah, I don’t want to watch a rom-com,” Soobin agreed.

“I’d rather watch a k-drama,” added Beomgyu.

“But you hate K-dramas,” Kai and Taehyun said at the same time.

“I know.”

“Okay,” Yeonjun clasped his hands (before Kai was ready to throw hands), “More suggestions!”

A couple of genres were thrown into the air before they agreed on one- Dead Space- a sci-fi thriller about two astronauts, satisfying everyone’s needs.

“Won’t it be too scary?” asked Taehyun.

“Yeah, I don’t want nightmares.,” said Kai.

“Thrillers aren’t that scary,” Yeonjun countered.

“Plus, when do we get to watch cool space movies? Name a good one after _Interstellar_ ,” said Beomgyu. He saw Taehyun nodding his head.

“And hyung will protect you if you’re scared,” Soobin puffed his chest, earning him a collective roar of laughter. Afer they settled down, the boys picked a date- Sunday afternoon.

Beomgyu was the first to head out that day. He looked back to see his friends chatting on the bench as he walked further away.

....

The next day, after morning practice, Beomgyu went to the teacher’s office to hand in his assignment. Instead of staying inside, he walked out and stood in front of the school gate.

It was still too chilly for the cherry blossoms to bloom, but the pink buds of the trees lined the student walkway. Most of the other trees were still bare, but they arched over the students’ heads like a tunnel. If you were to walk from the main road to the school, it would feel like you were entering a new world. Beomgyu only read about those in comics and classic novels, but he liked to think that when he turned his gaze skyward, this school was its own little world.

He contemplated this view as the warning bell rang. 15 minutes left to get to class. He waited to see a floppy head of brown hair in the distance.

When there were only five minutes left, he headed back for the gates, ready to talk to Jang-nim. (With a choco-pie in his hand this time).

But Jang-nim stopped him before he could speak. “I wasn’t born yesterday. The same trick won’t work twice on me, kid. Either you’re in or you’re out.”

Beomgyu gave a resolute nod, handing the choco-pie to the teacher, then proceeding to stand outside of the gates.

“They’ll be running five laps today,” Jang-nim warned.

Beomgyu smiled back at him, his arms linked behind, “I love running.”

He stood there as kids rushed past him to get inside, the gates closing with the ring of the bell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a kudos! If you can, I would love to see your comments about my fic.


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